


It's Alright (Not Really)

by lilacnightmares



Category: Shall We Date?: Obey Me!
Genre: Angst, Anxiety, Bubbly OC gets serious, Bullying, Callouts for Bullying Mammon, Character Study, Depression, Explicit Language, F/M, Family Drama, Found Family, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Introspection, Mental Anguish, Neglect, Nightmares, Nobody's perfect but there's a line to harshness, ObeyMax, Some of the boys definitely have a strong fondness for Azalea, Spoilers for Lesson 13, Spoilers up to Lesson 20, Teasing, implied verbal abuse, might continue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-02
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:13:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25036804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilacnightmares/pseuds/lilacnightmares
Summary: Azalea is really tired of everyone treating Mammon like a doormat. She knows that he's not innocent, no Demon is or can be, but it does not excuse the fact that his brothers demean and insult him every time that he opens his mouth. They've done it so long and for so many millennia that he actually believes that he's nothing but a scummy Demon. It makes her remember what's happening on Earth and pushes her into a dark place that she's been trying to swim out of since she arrived in Devildom.Character Introspection for my MC.
Relationships: Mammon (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!)/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 169





	1. Chapter 1

“I can’t believe all of you.” 

Azalea’s eyes hardened on the group of men in front of herself, arms on her hips. It wasn’t often an expression this incredibly angry came to her face. It honestly seemed out of place against the person that they had all come to know over this semester. 

She was always smiling broadly and acting naive and lost like a little lamb in a den of lions. She was the first person to trip over her two left feet and exclaim that she meant to do that. She was the last person that anyone ever expected to get angry. 

It didn’t seem like anyone could do it. 

It didn’t seem possible, if at all. 

Azalea had not once shown the brothers that she had a shred of anger inside of her heart. Not even when Lucifer stared her down and threatened her did she lose that smile on her face. Not even when Levi grew angry and jealous that she had one-upped him. 

Not even when Satan lost his temper with her attitude and tried to knock her down a peg. Not even when Asmo played his catty games to stir drama between the family for amusement. Not even when Beel had gotten upside about his custard and destroyed her room. 

Not even when she gazed into Belphie’s eyes in the attic as her body screamed in pain and exhaustion, she had not been angry with him, no, she had been upset that he felt like he had to hurt others to repair his grief. 

They probably just thought she was too nice for her good or just too naive to realize that she was amongst demons. It wasn’t like any of them had asked her about what life was like back home of their own accord. 

If they had, they might have noticed far more quickly that Azalea wasn’t just a nice girl who didn’t know when to shut up. If they hadn’t taken the hint when she blurted things out without thinking them through, or when she stood up and told them to cut it off when they were acting out or doing something wrong—

Well, they would understand today that she wasn’t just a naive human. 

Her hands pressed firmly against the table as she stared down every one of them with as much anger as she could express in her blue eyes. They had all ganged up on Mammon for something that he hadn’t done in the slightest. He couldn’t have done what they were accusing him because he had been with her the entire night prior. 

It didn’t matter if Mammon made mistakes. 

It didn’t matter if he was guilty of his status as the Avatar of Greed. He was just a victim as any of the brothers to his sin. They were all victims of their sins as they were the walking embodiment of that very sin. To exist knowing that you were going to be plagued with the uncontrollable urge of sin for every day until the end of time?

Azalea couldn’t say that she knew what that was like. 

What she could say was that Mammon was the only one in this house that was a punching bag. He was the only one shamed for his urges. 

Did you see any of them hissing at Beel for eating everything and grabbing things from the plates of everyone else? Did you see any of them getting angry at Asmo for not being able to control his urges? Did you see any of them getting angry at Satan when he destroyed something in a fit of rage? 

Did you see any of them tell Levi to get over it when he was festering and pushing everyone away? Did you see any of them get upset at Lucifer for not being able to control his pride and be honest? Did you see any of them get upset when Belphie fell asleep just about everywhere that he went? 

Hypocritical. 

They knew that he had no control over it. There was only a certain amount of pull they all had over their sin. It had to be the hardest thing to fight in the world. So, to hear that they were going to go and scold him the minute that he walked through the door from Majolish. They weren’t even going to get his side of the story. 

They weren’t even going to let him speak. 

They weren’t even going to listen to him. 

Lucifer had already planned his punishment out and was joking about how he would string him from the rafters this time. 

There were six sets of eyes looking at her at that moment and she realized that she had stood up, without warning. She never thought things through and she knew that she had gotten up without stopping to remember her place. 

She often did this. 

She spoke without thinking and she ran ahead without fear. This time, however, she wasn’t trying to weasel out of punishment or trying to save her ass from whatever ploy that they had against her when she got in the middle of their business. She had done it because she couldn’t believe they would not even give Mammon a chance. 

Yeah, he messed up sometimes. 

But, he didn’t deserve to be the punching bag of his family, nor did he deserve to hear that he was the scummy member of the family. He deserved the benefit of the doubt sometimes, no, all of the time at this rate. Azalea had given them all a second chance time and time again. So, they all should have been more than capable of that. 

Demon or not, this was bullshit. 

Asmo was the first to speak up, “You should stop standing up for Mammon all the time, Azalea. He’s the scummiest guy that you’ll ever meet. He’s not worth the air you’re wasting on him. A pretty girl like you can do better.”

“You have no room to talk,” Azalea quickly replied, undaunted. “You know, someone could easily do the same thing to you, Asmo. How would you like it if everyone in this house called you a slut any time that you opened your mouth?” 

Asmo merely whistled in response to that. He tapped his finger against his lip for a moment as if he were thinking about it, then sighed, “They’d be right. I am _a slut_.” 

That wasn’t the response that Azalea wanted from him. He may have been comfortable in his skin but he seemed to completely bypass her point entirely by waving it off with a little flick of his wrist. It wasn’t about that. It was about the phrase being used and given over and over.

“That’s not the point,” she fumed. “Do you not understand the repercussions of saying horrible things about people over and over again?” 

“This is the Devildom, Azalea,” Satan commented. “Are you saying that you expect demons to have manners? Or morality?”

She shook her head. “Are you saying that you feel you don’t have it at all? Cruelty may be the blatant assumption of Devildom, but I know that’s not the truth. I know each and every one of you is capable of humility, generosity, kindness, patience, chastity, abstinence, and diligence.” 

She had faith in them and knew that they were capable of being good people, etm, demons. 

In a matter of six months, they had come a long way from how they had acted when she arrived. She knew that they could be better and grow from their pain. Azalea had seen every one of them become more mindful. 

Demons that had done countless unspeakable acts throughout all of human history. Even they could learn and grow from their mistakes. Just as much as Angels could make mistakes and do the wrong thing. Nobody was inherently good or inherently evil. Azalea truly believed in that sentiment. 

She knew they could be better than this. 

If she hadn’t given them all a second chance and hadn’t thought to have faith in all of them, would they still be suffering in silence? Would the House of Lamentation be as quiet and as oppressive as it once was? When she first came here, everything was tight with the feeling that you were going to just suffocate. 

Nobody deserved to live like that. 

Not even the Demon Kings of Devildom. 

Yes, they were hurting. Yes, they were grieving. Yes, they had gone through thousands of years of pain that she could not ever hope to understand. But, they were going about handling that grief and pain in the wrong way. They were fighting amongst each other and kicking everyone else when they were just down for the count. 

To kick the one person that won’t push back said a lot about who you were as a person. To make Mammon their punching bag for all their problems wasn’t fair, nor was it right. 

He seemed to accept that everyone knew what they wanted to know of him and let it happen without complaint. She had seen him look down and repeat the words that she had heard everyone say about him over and over again. 

What enraged her so much about that was that Mammon really believed that he was a real scummy piece of shit. He just shrugged and went along with it because that was all that he had ever heard from his family. 

Sure, he needed to be reminded that he couldn’t take things that didn’t belong to him sometimes, but what he didn’t deserve was to hear that he was a piece of shit every day of his life. If you say something enough, you start to believe it. 

Seeing that she wasn’t going to step down, the boys watched and waited to see where this was going to go and how far she was willing to take it. 

Lucifer only sighed, “Your naivety knows no bounds, huh?” 

“Yeah, exactly, lololol. He wouldn’t go to the length that you go for him, normie. He would sell you faster than you could say anything to stop him from doing it,” Levi agreed with the nod of his head after looking up from his D.D.D. “I’m gonna have to stream this reaction for my followers now. Top ten Devildom fights the normie started.” 

“You’ll only get your feelings hurt if you keep thinking that way,” Belphie agreed as he lifted his head from where he had once been resting it against his forearms. “Don’t blame any of us when he double-crosses you for a couple of Grimm.” 

Beel was currently taking the time to grab some food from his neighbor’s plate in the process but he seemed to be listening as well. 

“Just like how you did the same thing to me for your revenge, huh, Belphie?” Azalea immediately regretted that comment as soon as it came out of her mouth. The room grew quiet and she looked down at her hands. There was a bit of static in the air as nobody moved or mentioned more on that subject. 

It was still pretty sore for everyone. 

If Azalea hadn’t forgiven Belphie for his actions, none of them would have given him a second chance as they had. Not after the satisfaction came into his eyes and not after this timeline’s version of herself lay bleeding on the ground as Mammon pleaded with her not to die and—

She didn’t want to relieve those feelings. 

She knew that none of them did. 

Azalea clenched at her arms, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring that up... I was out of line for that. I know you're working on that. That's something else. I'm just angry. My point stands, nevertheless, you aren’t even giving Mammon a real chance to defend himself and that’s why I’m fucking upset. Devildom or not, you’re innocent until proven guilty and I can assure you that—”

“Even if he didn’t do it,” Asmo said with a shrug while cutting her off before she could finish. “He’s probably guilty of seven other schemes that we don’t even know about yet. That alone means he’s in for some punishment, anyway. Might as well get ahead on those.” 

It hurt. 

Her family was being ripped apart again at the expense of one person and it hurt so much. Why didn’t they understand that if one person hurt… all of them hurt? Could they not see the sheer weight of pain that they put him through? Did they not see the way he hid his tears from them because he didn’t want to hear them taunt him? 

Imagining his blue eyes filled with tears only reminded her of the night prior when she had comforted him from a series of nightmares. He had snuck past Lucifer in spite of the fact that he knew that if he got caught then he would be hanging from the rooftop again. Mammon had held onto her so tightly as he reminded her that he wasn’t weak and that he wasn’t doing this cause he liked her. 

That was his way of deflecting pain from himself. 

If he kicked himself first, then it wouldn’t hurt as much when the others did it. She knew that because it was the same thing her little brother did every evening when she picked him up from school after the bullies had tormented him again. After their parents had done nothing to help him but tell him to stop crying and “man up”. 

It sparked such rage inside of herself that even Satan could feel the whisps of it seeping from her body piece by piece. 

Lucifer was being rather courteous and patient today with her actions, normally he would have told her to sit down and mind her manners. “The sooner you learn this, Azalea, the less trouble you’ll find yourself in. I am aware you have a fondness for him but I assure you it’s a waste of time. He’s a waste of your time to—”

Azalea sucked in a breath and held back what she knew felt like tears. There was no way that she was going to cry in front of them. 

“You wanna know why Mammon couldn’t have stolen that stuff last night?” Her fingertips pressed against the table as she leaned forward to stare directly at Lucifer. “Mammon was with me last night, and I didn’t sleep at all because I was too worried to leave him alone in case he needed me. You treated him like shit yesterday and when you weren’t ignoring him all day, you insulted him and kicked him when he was down! He was so upset over it that he didn’t know what to do with himself! All of you!” 

“It wasn’t _just yesterday._ You’ve all treated him like your personal stress ball for thousands of years and he’s taken every single blow you’ve given him because he loves all of you! He’s willing to be the subject of every painful feeling you have if it means that you all can live together and be together! If it stops any of you from fighting each other, then he will take the brunt of any abuse!” 

“Yeah, Mammon makes mistakes. Everybody makes mistakes! He’s the only one here that gets blamed for not being able to control his sin. I don’t see any of you yelling at Beel for stealing food off of your plates, I don’t see any of you getting angry when Belphie can’t control where he falls asleep and when, I don’t see you getting angry when Satan destroys everything in a fit of anger, I don’t see any of you getting angry at Asmo for not being able to control what he says, and I don’t see any of you kicking Levi for feeling jealous over everything!” 

She had to stop for a second to catch her breath, she knew that she was talking too much and saying too much for her own good, but it needed to be said, “I sure as hell don’t see any of you get angry at Lucifer for not being able to admit when he’s in the wrong. So, why is it that Mammon is the only person here that gets degraded? I can’t say that I know what it’s like to be the Avatar of a Sin, but I know that you only have so much control over it. You’re ruled by these feelings.” 

“This is supposed to be a family,” she said, bitterly. “And you know what? I don’t want this family to be like my family back on Earth. Do you know what happens when you treat one person in your family like shit? Do you want to know firsthand what it feels like to be powerless to help someone that you love from pain? Every day that I am here in Devildom, my little brother is probably suffering back on Earth because I’m the only person that gives a damn about him and is willing to call out people when he’s being mistreated. Seeing Mammon going through that makes me even more upset because it happens to other people too.”

“Sometimes, it feels like I’m the only one that cares about what all of these harsh words do to someone like Mammon. I know you all care about each other, I know you all do. But, would it kill any of you to step back and realize that Mammon isn’t a punching bag for all of your problems? I’m not telling you to forgive him if he steals something. I’m telling you to at least give him the benefit of a doubt once in a while! He deserves a chance to defend himself but no, you all think it’s funny to just punish him instead because _‘oh, he’s guilty no matter what’s going on_ ’!” 

“...” 

“...” 

“...” 

"..."

"..."

"..."

“I would never treat any of you like that. So, if you have any respect for yourselves and your family, could you think about what your words do? Every time I have to hear it, I remember my little brother and how I’m failing him just as much as I’m failing Mammon. If you excuse me, then. I’m not hungry anymore. Beel, you can have my dinner. I’m going to bed. Nobody bother me.” 

Azalea decided she needed to step back. She was breathing hard and everyone was giving her a wild and surprising look as if she had just laid down something on their doorstep that was on fire and could not be put out. She lifted her hands from the table and started to head towards the doorway. When she did reach the door and went to pull it open—

Mammon was standing on the other side of it. 

She looked up at him and saw that his eyes were wide and that his lips were agape. It was like he had heard everything that she had said. Well, she had been talking loud enough that she could guess that everyone in Devildom had heard that. He didn’t say anything. She didn’t say anything. There was just this sense of unease. 

Perhaps he was ashamed that the human had to stand up for him. 

Was he that pitiful, he probably thought. 

That moment they were lost in was cut when she brushed past him and apologized, heading straight for her room. 

“I’m sorry, Mammon.”


	2. Chapter 2

“Wren, honey, are you alright?” 

“...” 

“You don’t have to say anything if you’re upset. But, I’m here. I’m sorry that I could get home much sooner,” Azalea sat down next to him with a nervous smile. “Traffic was a real mess out there, I would have been here sooner if not for that.”

He had been in full-blown tears when the front door had opened and he had stormed off from their parents to go to his room to be alone. He had managed to slam it shut, but he hadn’t bothered to lock it. It seemed like it had been another bad day at school.

Middle school wasn’t great. It was pretty much the worst time of anyone’s life and Azalea could very clearly remember being thirteen and being so tired and frightened of everyone around herself but she hid with a smile and laughed off bullies who called her clumsy. It was a long time ago, ten years to be exact. 

She was eleven years older than Wren. 

She loved him nonetheless.

Azalea felt like she loved him more than their parents did because it seemed more and more like Wren was only born because their parents wanted to try and fix their marriage with another baby and it hadn’t done it. They had only made more of a big fuss when he was born because he had been born as partially blind. 

His perception of light was there, but most everything else was kind of blurry. He could more or less navigate the world without a lot of trouble with his cane, but their parents didn’t have the funds to go and allocate to get him a service dog to ease some of the trouble. 

He had an aid when he was at school that would help him get around and get his work done. That was about it. 

But, for Wren, he felt more and more like an outsider to the world because of that. He was the target of bullying often. People would trick him and leave him confused and in places that he didn’t know how to get out of and they would laugh at him. It had gotten to a point where he often came home with his eyes wet. 

Their parents were sympathetic the first time. But, after that, they kept telling him to toughen up and deal with it. Azalea couldn’t stand that. She hated what her parents did, and how neither of them had any care for what he was going through. They had never been there for her, but they weren’t there at all for Wren.

Not unless it benefited them or garnered them sympathy, personally. Attention, money, sympathy, anything that they could get from others to make their social image look better and garner them more of whatever they wanted was their goal. They were just parents for the show, Azalea unfortunately had come to understand that. It was why she always felt like something was missing when she was a child and it only clicked when she saw the way that they treated Wren that she figured out.

Better late than never, they always say. 

That was why Azalea was hellbent on getting Wren to live with her from now on. 

She wanted to take in him and get him into a new school where he could make new friends and be much happier, while she was there for him when he needed someone to be there. She had gladly been setting up her apartment to go for a few weeks now. She just had to ask him if he wanted to come and live with her instead of their parents. 

Azalea doubted they would protest. They would probably lump off some story of how Wren wanted to stay with her because she was on her way to getting her dream job and her brother was a big supporter of it, and they couldn’t tell him no, not the _precious baby of theirs_. 

It was a long moment until Wren pressed his hand against the bed and patted it down until he felt the fabric of the sweater that Azalea was wearing. Not even a second later he had wrapped his arms around her side, letting the rest of his whimpers out. 

“I thought you weren’t coming!” he cried, “Why do you have to go to live so far away? It’s not fair, Zazzie!”

Azalea pressed her hand to the back of his head, stroking the hair there for a moment to comfort him and his frustration. “I know. I’m sorry. I promised that I would be here.” 

It had been her dream school, and it had been a little bit further from home than she liked but she couldn’t pass up the chance. 

She had just finished her studies and was on the cusp of trying to secure a better job. She had a few things lined up, and it looked like she was heading straight into an internship with one of her favorite designers. It had been a long couple of years but she kept pushing through it because she was going to make their lives better. 

She promised, and Azalea didn’t break those. 

He just… needed to wait a bit longer, not much more. 

His fit of sobs was still there but it had stilled some, and his muffled voice spoke, “You weren’t here when I got home. Mom said that you weren’t coming this time. I thought I was going to have to wait another month to see you, sis’.”

“I’m not going anywhere now, I promise,” she said with a smile. “But, I’ve got a question for you that I think you may be excited about. Do you know how it’s almost your birthday? Well, you have to answer a question first before you can get it.” 

Wren lifted his head. He blinked through some of the lingering tears and rubbed at them with his sleeve to get rid of them. “Um… okay, what’s the question?”

Hopefully, this would be enough to lift his mood and get him through the next few weeks so she could finalize the details. He needed to hear it today, even though she wanted to leave it as a surprise, Wren was always her soft spot. She couldn’t help but spoil him and treat him with the kindness that he never got from anyone else. 

“Wren, how would you feel about coming to stay with me in the city?” 

“Like,” he paused, trying to figure out what she meant by that. “Do you mean… that I can come and visit you there?” 

She laughed a little but shook her head. “Actually, I mean do you wanna come and live with me instead of with mom and dad? Like, stay with me permanently instead?” 

That smile on his face still lingered in Azalea’s memory like a wildfire. It was like she had handed him a golden ticket, or given him the key to a mansion. It was like waking up on a cloud of cotton candy after a long sleep. Wren looked so excited, and it was like the hope that he had lost somewhere along the way had been given back to him. 

**_“Yes!”_ **

—

She awoke with a snap in her bed. Her eyes wet with tears as she raised her hand to her cheeks to feel the waterworks. She had been having another dream, again, and it seemed as though this dream was a reminder of her failure. She had been pulled into the Devildom a week later, and unable to talk to her baby brother, she left him sitting in _limbo_. 

Azalea _promised_. 

She promised she would come back to pick him up in a few weeks. Yet, she hadn’t been able to keep that promise in the slightest. 

Now, Lucifer assured her that everyone back in the human realm thought that she was going to be on an abroad study for a year and that they wouldn’t be able to reach her where she was but that didn’t at all help her in the slightest

Even if Wren knew that she was okay. 

He would still think that she left him. 

It was the last thing she ever wanted to do. It was why when she saw how everyone treated Mammon, no matter how much of a greedy demon he could be like he was real scum of the Devildom, it burned her to no end.

It brought up the memory that six months ago, she had been pulled here without a say in the matter. 

Six months of not being able to explain herself to her brother. It weighed on her like a rock and as soon as the brothers had mended their relationship, it only continued to remind her that she wasn’t able to do that. Azalea bit down that feeling as she helped the boys piece together their family, and by a lengthy extension, her family. 

She felt like she belonged with them, but something was missing in this Devildom. Her family wasn’t complete without her brother and he was still up there in the human realm with nobody to confide in or talk to. 

She had stormed off after dinner in a huff and nobody had even followed after her to make sure that she was okay. Well, she had told off the literal avatars of sin and if she wasn’t who she was, that would be a walking death flag if there was one. 

To be fair, they needed to hear it, and no matter how many times that she was told that they all cared for each other, she knew that they all knew that Mammon was their resident punching bag to hit on. 

“Serves them right,” she muttered, and it went against her normally bubbly disposition. “They’ve been doing this for far too long. He’s not a punching bag.”

Azalea was always smiling and she always sprang back up whenever she got hurt. She was clumsy and she didn’t always think first, she went with her heart. She would always say that she meant to fall over and that she meant to cause trouble. She never let anything get to her but being here in the Devildom was hard. 

Hard because there were things that she couldn’t control. 

She rubbed at her eyes again. “No, no… that’s mean, and you know it. They all care about each other, they just have a funny way of showing it. Teasing is one thing, but… ugh. It’s going to be awkward at breakfast, isn’t it?” 

The clock on the wall said that it was four in the morning. You would never know what time it was without that. It was always dark in Devildom. It was never sunshine. There was always a deep night skyline with the faintest glimmer of stars. Perpetual darkness if it weren’t for the streetlights and the hum of buildings. 

She rolled over onto her side. 

Azalea hated this. 

She wasn’t often angry and it was her fault that things had gotten so out of hand so quickly; If she had just thought first and then explained why she was upset, then they could have worked it out with their words. Instead, she bit her tongue and told them not to bother her at all, and… oh, she looked down at her wrist. 

By saying what she had the way she did, she invoked her pacts with all of them. No wonder nobody came to bother her, she had given them the order _not_ to follow. 

Sometimes, she forgot that she conveniently could order everyone around if she wanted to do so. It wasn’t like she wanted that power, no, she didn’t like the idea that she could push people and make them obey her command. 

So, she hardly ever used it unless she felt uneasy or when she didn’t stop to think about what she was saying. Man, she… 

“Hah…” 

There was no way that she was going to be able to get back to sleep at this rate. She pulled down the blanket from her lap and stood up, intending to go ahead and take a long shower to get her day started and over with. 

Perhaps, she would work on the tasks that she had disregarded after she went to bed early for the evening instead. 

Well, it was what she intended, had it not been for the form at the edge of her bed that she promptly tripped over. Azalea groaned, audibly. She hadn’t left anything on the floor so why had she tripped over something? She had learned not to leave things lying around when she was younger! So, it wasn’t her fault this time. 

She shifted her head to see what lump had caught her ankle this time, only to sputter out in surprise, “Mammon?” 

She crawled off of him and dusted off the dirt from the cheek as his blue eyes gazed in her direction. 

“How long have ya’ been there?” she asked him, perplexed by the sight of him. “You could catch a nasty cold sleeping like that on the floor! Wait, can demons even catch colds? Is that even a thing? I should be paying a lot more attention in class.” 

Wait. 

He hadn’t been in the dining room when she directed that command at the rest of his brothers, so he hadn’t been affected by those orders. Sure enough, the white-haired demon had been sleeping at the edge of her bed like a loyal dog. They often shared the bed late at night, so it wasn’t odd for him to be in her room. 

After she had spoken for him like that, she had thought that he would be offended by her coming to his defense. 

He didn’t need a human to defend him out of any creature that existed. He was thousands of years old and perfectly capable of holding his own against his brothers, after all, he was the second strongest and fully aware that if they wanted to fight him, he’d win. 

That’s why she had apologized as soon as she realized that he may have heard anything that she had said on his behalf. Her whole point was that he deserved to be able to use his voice and there she was, using hers for him. 

“C’mon, stop yer’ yappin’ for a minute, human,” He sighed, shaking his head at how quickly she babbled away without a second thought. He rested a hand against her lips to shush her from saying anymore and she trailed off, once quiet, he removed his hand. Azalea decided to let him say what he wanted to say first. 

“...” 

“Well, don’t stare at me like that,” Mammon patted down his messy locks, no doubt out of place from being on the floor for most of the night. “You’re the one that made a big ruckus down there in the first place ya’ know. Though, I can’t say it wasn’t hilarious to see them put in their place like that since ya’ didn’t order me to leave you alone.” 

Azalea shifted and sat on the throw rug that had been placed on the ground. She looked at him, but couldn’t bring herself to meet her eyes. She realized what she must have looked like at that point since he gave her one of those looks. She raised a hand to her face and wiped away some of the lingering tears that had escaped despite her knowledge. 

“Sorry, Mammon,” she muttered. 

“Sorry? Now, what do ya’ have to be sorry for? I mean,” he tugged at his collar as it suddenly felt a bit too snug. “It was kind of you to stand up for scum like me. You didn’t have ta’ do that. You don’t have to do that all the time. I do swipe things, after all. That’s kind of my whole deal. I’m used to everyone always thinkin’ it was me when something goes wrong.” 

Her fingers dug into the fabric of her sleeves as they curled into her palm. 

“No,” she said, simply. 

“No?” he echoed. 

“Mammon, I’m aware that none of you are innocent and that you’re all compelled by your sin to do things that you can’t control all the time. I don’t stand up for you because I think that you’re innocent or anything. It wasn’t about that,” her voice trembled as she spoke. She knew his eyes were on her and he couldn’t look away. 

“It was about the fact that you’re the House of Lamentations punching bag. Everyone comes together over one thing and that’s usually picking on you and you take it because you want your family to be happy and together. Why is it that they can live knowing that their sin will manifest as compulsions, but blame you for yours when they know what that’s like?” 

She lifted her head, lilac curls falling in front of her eyes, as it flooded out. “It just isn’t fair to you at all, Mammon. You try to keep everyone together and your reward is being a joke to them. I thought if I told them how it made you feel then maybe they could have realized just how bad it is, but then I realized that I was just… I was just… I was speaking for you too, when all I wanted was for you to have your voice heard instead of spoken over, and there I was, doing just that.” 

That, and Azalea knew that she had been balling up her feelings about her brother all this time and it flooded to the surface when she saw Mammon being kicked for something that he was constantly at odds with himself over. 

It wasn’t that she thought any of them were free from sin, this was hell, this was the Devildom. 

They were demons. 

What bothered her was how they kicked him when he was down and never let him have a chance to stand for himself. Sure, they were thousands of years old and maybe they have learned a fact that she hadn’t, but it didn’t feel right to see something biting his tongue and taking punches just to keep everyone sated.

Hell, she was well aware that he would make mischief to ensure that everyone was interacting with each other more often. 

Like, Mammon would torment Levi and even Satan just to get them to come out of his room now and again when they had been too fixated on their interests. 

Or, when he’d pointedly go out to parties with Asmo, or when he’d check up on Lucifer to see if he had been getting rest, or when he made up for eating Beel’s things by stocking it up later, or even when he checked on Belphie despite how upset he was after what he had done to Azalea. 

If it was Lucifer that brought them together, then Mammon was the glue that made them stick together. 

When she saw him getting kicked despite how much he loved his family, all she could think about was her baby brother and how he must have felt all the time. He didn’t hate their parents even though their actions hurt him, and he always wanted Azalea to come home so they could all be together and be happy. 

Yet, it wasn’t going to happen like that. 

Wren knew that, and that’s why he had been so happy to hear that Azalea wanted him to come and live with her instead. As much as he wanted things to be like they were, or like he thought they were, Wren knew that he would be happier with his sister instead and just her alone. She had broken that promise but it wasn’t her fault. 

She felt like it was very much her fault. 

A sob wracked at her throat again despite how hard she tried to hold it back. Her happy disposition was crumbling away, and no amount of saying, “I meant to do that, don’t worry!” was going to hide her anguish. As much as she wanted to have faith in herself and the idea that if she could fix her new family’s problems, she wasn’t sure she could fix her own. 

“...” 

Azalea felt his hands press against her shoulders with a gentle touch. He was warm compared to how chilled she felt then. “Zaz, I’m not upset with ya’. I admire ya’. You’re always willin’ to help everyone but you never help ya’ self. I’m not angry with you. I appreciate everything that you do for me, for my brothers, too, even if… well… ya’ know, I don’t like to share ya’ with them. But, that’s beside the point, I’m your first man, of course, I want ya’ around me all the time.” 

It was rare for him to be honest like this, but no one was awake and she was a bit too out of touch to comment on what might have overwhelmed or embarrassed him. His hand brushed against her cheek, pushing her bangs from her face so she couldn’t hide from him. 

“Mammie,” she whispered.

Despite what she had been scared of, he wasn’t upset.

“This ain’t all about me, now is it?” he asked, quietly. “Do ya’ wanna talk about it? I’m not gonna make ya’ or nothin’. But, it seems like this is something that’s been bothering you for a while and I want to know if I can help. After all, it’s my job to make sure that you’re happy and safe here in the Devildom.” 

Azalea swiped at the tears hurriedly but it didn’t do much in the way of stopping it. She sniffled but managed to still her burning lungs. “It’s… it’s really silly. I shouldn’t have gotten worked up in the first place.” 

“Hey, if it’s upsetting you, then it’s serious,” Mammon said, pointedly, his tone surprisingly stern for the first time. She snorted, though it was a weak laugh. “I’m serious, Zazzie, I’ve never seen anyone like you before. You’re always smiling and you’re always helpin’ people whether they asked ya’ to do it or not. You didn’t even cry when Levi threatened you, or when Beel tried to knock my head off, or hell, when Lucifer said he was gonna throttle ya’. If you’re cryin’, then it’s something bad.” 

She remembered to breathe at that time. Counting back from ten and exhaling on the ten was enough to give her back some of her confidence. She had been hiding this from all of them for a long time, only mentioning her brother now and again if someone asked if she had any siblings. 

She had made it pretty clear with them that she cared about her brother, and that was why she had been so determined to help Belphie. Azalea never elaborated much on that. It was simply her saying that she understood what it was like to be away from her sibling and have no control over the matter at all. 

“I don’t wanna pry, I swear,” Mammon added. Even though he would always try to learn anything he could about her that the others couldn’t. “But, Lu said that… that you mentioned something about your little brother. He said ya’ said… _‘you were failing me just like you were failing your brother_ ’, and nobody knows what ya’ meant.”

Azalea bit her lip. 

Did she have the strength to tell anyone? 

“I made a promise,” she said, softly. Azalea still couldn’t meet his eyes. “And, by coming here to the Devildom, I broke that promise I made and I have no way of knowing how to fix it, or if I’ll even be able how to fix it.” 

Mammon realized that she was going to need a moment to talk about so, he beckoned her forward and Azalea slumped into his arms if only to keep herself from gripping at her skin and giving herself more scrapes to clean up when she took a shower. 

It wasn’t like she wasn’t already coated in bandages and wraps. 

Well, she wasn’t the queen of falling on her face for nothing. Mammon had once joked that since she joined their family that if ever wanted a title, they would call her the Avatar of Clumsiness. It wasn’t a sin but the way she lived it, it may as well have been one. You wouldn’t have expected that from a girl that liked to dress like a punk. 

No amount of ripped skirts and leather jackets could hide that she had two-left feet. 

She gave herself a moment before she opened up about the secret that had been brewing inside her like a storm for such a long time. 

“It’s my baby brother,” she continued. “He’s a lot like you, Mammon… well, you may think he’s more of a crybaby than you are, but still, I can’t help but see it. The world has constantly been kicking him since the day he was born and I was the only one that ever wanted to protect him from it sincerely. He’s visually impaired, can’t see anything apart from faint shapes and shadows. So, he needs some help to get around in the world sometimes.” 

“He gets picked on a lot by other kids because of it. Our parents have never helped him stop the bullies, they just kept telling him to man up, and I’ve tried to help him, but I couldn’t always be there for him as I got older because… he was the one that told me he would be okay when I went to design school, but it just got worse after I left home,” Azalea shut her eyes as she tried to ignore the fresh memory that came to mind. 

It had been silly at the time, he was barely into second grade when she had reached her senior year of high school. Yet, he was the one urging her to follow her dreams. It was hard to say no to a kid that believed in fairytales and the good in the world. He had always followed her around everywhere she went, adding in his input on what she was creating. 

Since he couldn’t always see what she was making, he could feel it. The texture was an important part of what she made. There weren't enough studs or spikes in the world to make that kid laugh. Sometimes she would find herself closing her eyes as she worked, thinking of what he might say when she had a concept piece. 

For such a quiet kid, he could be adamant when he wanted to be. 

Azalea made sure to spend a lot of time with Wren like that when she could and it was one of her fondness memories to date. Her parents didn’t think she was going to get far doing that but Wren believed, and that had been all she needed to push herself forward. 

Sometimes all you needed was one voice to feel confident. 

“And, I tried to be there for him as much as I could, but it wasn’t enough. I tried to help but he told me to stay in school because it was always my dream… and well, I did, and right before I came here to the Devildom, I finished school and I was about to start a new job. I decided enough was enough, and I was going to let my brother move in with me so I could get him into a better school with better friends and with someone that cared about him. I told him that he just needed to wait a week or two to move into my new apartment and start my job when I saw him last, but…” 

Mammon’s grip around her waist tightened. He seemed to understand what she was implying by saying that. “Because ya’ came here, you couldn’t take your brother in. So, he’s probably still dealing with the same problem, and now yer’ not there to comfort him. So, you’re thinking he’s hurt that ya’ left like that after making a big promise.” 

She nodded. 

“Yeah,” she muttered. “That’s about how I’d sum it up. It’s not like I blame anyone for that, and I’m not upset that I came here, don’t get me wrong. I just feel so guilty all the time about that, Mammon, and I don’t know if he’ll ever forgive me for leaving.” 

It was like a weight left her chest when she admitted what had scared her so much. She felt so guilty about all of it. But, she knew that it wasn’t her fault. She knew that fate had played a hand in bringing her to the Devildom for a reason, and she wasn’t upset that she had come there. She had met so many people she loved. 

Yet, she was still missing a piece of her heart. 

Mammon shook his head. “I don’t think anyone could ever hate ya’, Azalea.” 

“I think disappointment is a lot stronger than hatred,” she replied. 

“Well, this won’t do,” he mumbled. 

Azalea lifted her head to meet his gaze. His eyes had softened, and there was a rare sight of his true feelings within them that made her heart pound against her chest. “I’m sorry to have made a mess last night. I already know that I’m gonna have to apologize to all of em’.” 

Mammon shook his head. “Nah. To be honest with you, we had a long talk after you stormed off and everything’. Nobody’s upset with ya for what you did down there. I think Lucifer respects ya’ more this time around since you were so willin’ to stand your ground against all of them for _my_ sake, even though I’m a real mess.” 

Azalea wanted to scold him for kicking himself but it wasn’t like Rome was built in a day. He had bad thoughts of himself for thousands of years and that was sure to be something that would take quite a while to cut back on.

She had her doubts about that. However, to think that they were all willing to talk to each other after that? Now, that was a real blessing that didn’t seem to exist in the slightest in the Devildom. Stranger things had happened, she supposed. Azalea didn’t have the energy to ask if they had been willing to admit their wrongs now. 

Given that Mammon didn’t seem upset, she thought that maybe things had gone okay. 

“Are you okay?” she asked him instead. 

That false bravado appeared once again as Mammon smirked, “Oh? Of course, you’re worried about The Great Mammon! I mean, why wouldn’t you? I’m such a shining example of everything that you could ever want so it makes sense that you’d want to see how I’m doing even when you’re the one that’s doin’ the crying.” 

Azalea merely rolled her eyes at that. She gave him a playful shove to his shoulder and instead buried her face in his chest. “Should I even ask you why it is that you're sleeping at the foot of my bed like a puppy, Mammon?”

“Oi! Nobody else could check up on ya’. You should feel grateful that I decided to come and stay with ya’ instead of going to my room.” 

That made her feel like she could laugh again. 

It was a weak one, but Azalea felt a little bit better now that she had been honest with herself and with someone else. She sighed, as the weight of exhaustion started to crawl up her spine. She wanted to rest some more even though there was a lot to think about already. 

Her apology, _for one_ , and then she would worry about everything that came after it. 

“Thank you for coming to check on me, Mammon,” she mumbled underneath her breath. “It means a lot to me. I hope you don’t mind if I ask you to stay just a little longer?” 

It wasn’t a command, it was merely a proposition. She would never make her demons do anything that they didn’t want to do. She was far too kind to do that sort of thing. Mammon patted down her messy curls and hummed in response. It wasn’t long before she felt the exhaustion catching up with her and her world went dark. 

“ _Don’t worry, my little human, I’ll stay with ya_ ’.” 

—

Breakfast was surely awkward. 

Azalea revoked her order on the affected brothers when she woke up over text and there was a faint hum of magic that surged through her pact marks. It was always a faint static or like a sharp motion depending on what the commands were or what the feeling was that went along with it. This time it felt like a relief. 

Mammon was gone when she got up but she was tucked back into her bed which told her that he had put her there before he left the room. It was nice of him, at least, but she wondered if he still felt rough about her actions despite how much he tried to reassure her that things were alright. The hallways were oddly quiet and she could hear the sounds of her boots against the ground with each step. 

The heavy door opened with a creak and she felt a set of seven eyes on her as soon as she did. 

“Um,” she managed to bring out her smile. “Hi, boys. I suppose I should go ahead and say that I’m sorry for my actions last night, and for, ah, unintentionally ordering you around. That wasn’t what I meant to do, I was just…” 

Lucifer cut in before she could get any further in her attempt to settle the peace and take the blame for what happened. “You can stop right there, Azalea, there’s no need. I will admit that we were… _wrong_ , in our assumption. You made your point clear so you shouldn’t apologize for stepping on anyone’s toes. You weren’t in the wrong for looking out for Mammon… as detestable as that is to say.” 

“Hey!” Mammon cut in, a huff on his lips. “Don’t act like it’ll kill ya’ to be kind to me every now n’ again, Lu.” 

Lucifer did not react to that. After all, he was everything pride was, and for him to admit that he was wrong or ‘to lower himself’ for the sake of a human was something not to be taken lightly. He had been through a lot of earnest changes since the human had come around and as frustrating as she could be when she always stuck her nose into his business… 

He had to admit that he couldn’t be upset when she was looking out for his brothers because damn his pride or not, he loved all of them and he would always ensure that they were with him, there had been far too much loss already and he didn’t want to lose any more. 

“It might kill one of us,” Belphie grumbled from his spot across the table from Mammon, lifting his head just enough to glance at Azalea. “Because you’ll never let us live it down when we do. It’s way too early in the morning to be dealing with this emotional junk, anyway.”

“Yeah, he might be a pain in the ass, but he’s still our brother,” Levi added, looking down at his hands for a moment. “It’s easy to always blame Mammon for things, even the things that aren’t his fault. He’s always taken the critical hits, lololol. I guess I never thought about how that must have hurt until you said something. I mean, I’m nothing but a yucky otaku… and I know how it feels to be an outcast, so I should have realized it sooner.”

“As easy a target as he is,” Satan said. He glanced at the man in question. “I have to admit that he is looking out for everyone in his way, even if it’s infuriatingly daft.” 

“He’s still not as good looking as I am, but he does know how to sucker the people in with what he’s got,” Asmo lamented with a sigh. “I hate to admit it, when he knows how to have a good time, we’re just too alike with our desires. It’s easier to butt heads with him than it is to tell him that he’s doing a good job. Although, I will say your fiery passion for him was deliciously enthralling. I’d love to see more of that.” 

Azalea felt her cheeks flare up in embarrassment. To see everyone admitting their mistakes and rallying behind him made her want to cry again. She didn’t, out of the sheer fact that she wanted to not make this more awkward than it already was. She nervously toyed with her hands in front of herself for a moment. 

“Family is the most important thing,” Beel said as he put down the plate that he had almost taken a bite out of. “Even family-like Mammon. He never said anything about it bothering him, he just kind of took it like the masochist he is; I guess it didn’t occur to any of us until you pointed it out. Even demons can make mistakes.” 

Mammon grumbled underneath his breath about that one. It seemed like they had already had a long conversation last night about all of this. Otherwise, this might have been more explosive or emotional for him to handle. It had to make him feel like everyone cared about him because they did, they just didn’t say it to each other enough despite things. 

The dark presence over the house was starting to lift. 

“Well,” she mustered some more courage, still unable to meet their eyes out of her shame. “If we’re being honest with each other about everything then I should really tell you guys that it wasn’t just Mammon I was upset about. I was already upset about something else. I have been… trying to ignore it for a long time but last night was just… you know, the final straw and I just blew up. I didn’t mean to take it out on you guys.” 

It wasn’t entirely their fault that she had been upset. She hoped that none of them felt too guilty about that part. 

That was when Levi calmly informed her: “Oh, Mammon told us about your brother, you don’t have to explain.” 

“Yes, darling,” Asmo nodded. “It made much more sense when he told us. Although, I hope you know that none of us think you’ve failed him just because you couldn’t keep your promise. It wasn’t exactly like you had a say in coming here.” 

“In hindsight, I should have realized sooner given what you asked me during your first week here,” Lucifer said, with an odd look flashing over his ruby eyes. “I assumed it to be a concern for what people may think while you’re gone, but I see now you were concerned with it seeming like you abandoned your brother.” 

“It must be hard for you to think about that all the time since we got Belphie back,” Beel mused, as he took another bite of his food. “I mean, you comforted me about Belphie all those times when you were struggling with the same problem. You could’ve… said something, I would have understood back then but I understand why you didn’t.” 

“Yeah, we understand if… if you wanna go back home.” 

She blinked. “ _What_?”

Azalea lifted her head and stared at the demon in question. Now, he looked guilty and like he was sweating bullets. She narrowed her eyes at him, and he let out a squeak, raising his hands in his defense just in case she wanted to scold him for blabbing what was bothering her in the first place. She wasn’t mad at him. 

She felt relief that she didn’t have to explain herself again. 

He blanched when she didn’t move, “Oi! I had to tell em’, they wouldn’t stop burning a hole in my phone! Besides, ya’ know everyone knows how you’re feeling, and I didn’t think ya’ would wanna go and tell that story again given how upset it made ya’!” 

She bowed her head. “I’m not upset, Mammon. Thank you.” 

“Eh?”

“But you’ve got it all wrong. I do miss my brother a lot. But, family _is_ important to me,” she paused, lifting her head to look at them. “And, you’re all my family too, now. So, you’re important to me as well, just as much as Wren. I don’t wanna just leave without finishing my commitments. I’m thinking that our Mammon forgot to inform you that I’m not upset about being here in the Devildom nor the fact that I don’t want to go back early.”

“Hm, he neglected to add that.” 

“Hey! I told ya’ what upset her, ya’ didn’t ask for more than that!” 

“What can you expect? He was probably blubbering too hard about the fact that Lucifer praised him last night to remember,” Asmo snickered, which made the others catch onto that laughter as Mammon tried to deflect their words on him. It was different than when everyone was kicking him around but it made his heart swell. 

Azalea took her spot next to the Avatar of Greed and rested her hand against his shoulder, which made him look back in her direction. There was a dusting of heat across his cheeks that he prayed she would not notice or at the very least, point out. He seemed to be in good spirits and she was happy to see that everyone was better. 

It would take some progress, but she hoped that things would get easier for him in the future. Everyone would just have to keep learning to be a better demon. This might have been the Devildom but that didn’t mean that they were lacking in kindness, as much as someone may have wanted to think this spot was void of it. 

He looked her dead in the eyes, looking to avoid his flustered state. “Y’know, is that why you dote on the chihuahua, too?” 

Azalea smiled, a bit sheepishly. “Hey, angel or not, he’s still a kid, and he looks around my brother’s age, so of course, I’m gonna be a softie. That’s just what you do when you’re the older sibling, even when you’re not around your family, you tend to look after everyone. I’m sure you guys understand that too.” 

She flipped through her phone, it didn’t get much of a signal down here in the Devildom, but it did hold all of her photos and pictures of her life in the human world. She flipped through one of the old albums and landed on the one that she wanted, and then she handed it over to the demon who was eyeing her down with curiosity. 

“My parents have never really been great parents to be honest with you guys. They didn’t exactly just neglect me or my brother, at least in a physical sense. They’re just… absent. They care a lot more about how people perceive them and how their image is more than they care about what I’m dealing with personally, or what Wren is dealing with. So, I’ve always been the one looking after him whenever I have the chance.”

Mammon flipped through the photos, Levi and Asmo peeking over his shoulder to see what she had brought. It was photos of her brother’s last birthday party. There was a young boy not much older than twelve with messy purple locks from his sister ruffling it, dressing in a black hoodie with a smile on his face. 

The supposed party was empty apart from the two siblings, not even the parents to be seen, as it seemed, Azalea was right. Their parents were hardly around when it mattered, and she was there to pick up any pieces to make her brother feel like the world wasn’t all that cruel of a place. 

She explained, “I do my best that I can, but I know I’m not perfect. At the end of the day, it’s the fact that I’m trying that counts… that’s what I tell myself to get by. Wren is kind of shy but I think he’d be excited to meet you guys some day.” 

It was quiet. 

Azalea glanced at the guys but they were still glancing over her photos. It seemed like they had picked up on something that she hadn’t. “Uh, guys? Hello? What’s up? Normally if I share something that's mine you’re all clattering to see who gets to keep it.”

“It’s just…” 

“Yeah, it’s uncanny,” Beel shook his head. 

“He’s got the same eyes as Lilith,” Belphie interrupted the sputtering and tension silence that had sprung up when she asked the question. “The shape and the color is all.”

“Oh,” Azalea murmured, softly. She hadn’t thought about it. Wren did have lavender-colored eyes but he often hid them behind lenses to protect from any more sun damage when he was out and about so not many people knew that fact about him. She couldn’t help but see her brother when she looked at Belphie and Beel since they had similar tones. 

She knew that she looked nothing like Lilith. They had all said that time and time again, and not even in that brief moment where Lilith’s spirit had reached out to her had she had a sense of what the angel was like. She had only heard the sounds of her voice and that was soft and sincere. It did nothing to clear out the notion of what she looked like. 

Everyone was still getting used to the truth that had been revealed, that Lilith had been a human for some time and that Azalea was a very distant relative of that human form she had been reincarnated into, and thus, so was Wren. It didn’t make much sense to think that Lilith would carry over any of her former traits as a human since she was meant to live an average life and live how she always wanted to be. 

Yet, her angelic power still existed in Azalea’s veins so it didn’t seem to be much of a stretch to think that somewhere along the line, something could be shared in her descendants. To think that Wren had always hated his eyes and that the very same eyes reminded the boys of someone that they loved dearly, she thought. 

“The universe works in mysterious ways, I guess,” she said with a weak laugh to cover up some of that somber mood that had brewed up. “Thanks for letting me talk about him, guys. I’ve been bottling it up for long enough. That helped me a lot. I appreciate that. So, I hope you guys remember to cherish each other a little more now.” 

Her D.D.D buzzed right before she could say anything else, and she cursed as she looked at the alert on her phone, springing her feet, and not even thinking about saying goodbye to any of them as her head had gone to something else. “Ah, shit, I promised Simeon and Luke I’d meet with them today. I almost completely forgot! Gotta go!”

That left her demons to sigh. Well, she seemed better since she had jumped back onto her goals without seemingly let down. Lessons had been learned, but it seemed like she would always run around without thinking things through. It seemed to be her curse, that she was always caring about everyone but herself. 

“Someone accompany her before she forgets to—”

There was a small crashing sound. 

“Open the door…. Not again,” Lucifer sighed, already rubbing his temple with the brewing headache that was sure to come. “Beel?” 

The redhead had already devoured his fill, so he got up and went to make sure that she got to where she needed to be without too much trouble. That was her best bet, besides, they had more matters to take care of here as it was. Mammon had already turned his attention back onto Lucifer, and he knew what his brother was thinking. 

“You don’t even have to say it,” he said. 

Mammon grinned, “Good! I figured ya’ already had a plan in mind. I don’t suppose you’ll let me accompany her to the human realm in a few days to get in a few deals that I can totally not use to jack up the prices for the demons that love human junk—”

“You do realize,” Satan looked up at him from his book, “That you’ve given away your plans by saying that, no?” 

He cursed. 

“If anyone is accompanying her,” Lucifer said, pointedly shooting a glare at him. “It will likely be me, not you, Mammon. Just because we've admitted that you're not always the scum you claim to be does not mean that you get a free pass to go and cause mischief that would cause direct damage to the exchange program. I will keep a closer eye on you if that's what you've learned out of this instead of a   
proper lesson." 


	3. Chapter 3

“What? Really? You’re just going to let me go back to the human realm for the day? No catches or stipulations? This sounds like a test, Lucifer.” 

“I assure you that it is, in fact, not. Under the circumstances, and given all that you’ve gone through for the sake of my… our family, It seems only fair that you be able to see your brother once again to clear the air with him. It wouldn’t be right of me to ask you to continue living thinking such thoughts, I am very… aware of the weight that holds.” 

A smile broke out on Azalea’s face. Lucifer pretended to pay no mind to the teasing glimmer in her expression as it arose. It reminded him greatly of time well passed, but at the same time, it was a true reminder of the present that they existed within which was a great deal better than it had been for countless ions. 

“I suppose that’s your way of saying thank you for everything I’ve meddled in since it worked out,” she said, thoughtfully. “You’re welcome for meddling despite how trying I’ve been trying. It means a lot to me, Lucifer.” 

“Quite,” he replied. 

Simple and matter of fact as ever, but he knew that she could see underneath it as much as he detested the fact that she could. He would not deny the fact that life had changed since the human came into their lives and it just went to show how important the merging and harmony of realms was to repairing these… 

No, no. 

There was no time nor any need to get sentimental where anyone could come into the room. He would not address this out in the open. This was enough, and Azalea seemed purely satisfied with the fact that he had given her this much. He had to appreciate that despite how naive and clumsy she could seem, she was more aware and attentive than anyone wanted to think.

Perhaps, that was to her benefit. Her soul had a way of luring in anyone that dared to look in her direction and while that meant that the entirety of the House of Lamentation was often looking to get a moment of her time as often as they could, it also meant that she was had the misfortune of having the eyes of all Devildom on her back. 

Being the human with a shiny soul and yet no magical claim as far as the others would ever know just meant everyone wanted you, and not always for the right reasons. It also meant that it made her a pain in his neck and a thorn in his side. 

Now, not so much, he had come to say that he respected how she held her ground in front of anyone. 

No matter how big the monster or the demon, she would keep her gaze steadfast and not dare let her fear overwhelm her when it easily should have. It was no surprise when she held her ground when she stood up for any of his brothers at this point. Whether it came to her defending Beel back when they hid Luke underneath his nose, or when she stood her ground for him in front of Satan and him when they confronted one another, or like the night prior when she didn’t mince words with any of them for Mammon. 

He knew that he was right to trust his brother with the human because he had the most control and the most empathy for a demon. It didn’t come as freely out as it once had when they had been in the Celestial Realm, but he was the fondest of Mammon and that soft often meant that he was pushing on him to be better most of the time. 

His fondness manifested as stern words these days and while he wanted Mammon to get in line and behave himself, he was well aware that all of them had long had trouble with their sin as it took control of them in those first hundred years. 

Mammon had been the one to tell him that the others needed time to grieve and learn to control their new abilities in the first place. 

From Belphie being unable to stay awake for long periods, or Beel being unable to stop himself from devouring whatever was in front of him, or how Asmo would drown himself without reprieve in affection, or how Levi pulled away from everyone in shame and envy, or how Satan was a burning ball of fire they all had to attend to. 

Mammon’s coping mechanism of loss and gain was the most tedious to deal with. He had a lot of control when it came to his emotions, always steadfast in the way that he bit back his problems for the sake of his family, but having a problem with the addictive rush that came from loss and gain in his gambling. 

It was easy to target him because he didn’t fight back. He let everyone kick him and he never put it right back on them apart from a weak jest of, “Oi, ya’ don’t gotta be mean to your brother like that!” While Lucifer could say to himself that he was grateful for the amount of strain that Mammon went through, it was his fault for averting his gaze when he felt something was off. 

Frankly, they all had been in a rather violent and fragile place back when the fall had occurred. Lost and gained features as well as oppressive new powers that came with the weighted sin of their punishment for choosing to take the fall for Lilith and for the sake of everything else that had been brewing for such a long time. 

There was no regret in the way of that choice. However, there was a pain in his heart whenever he realized how strained things were for Mammon. His pride always got in the way of him being able to express himself the way that he cared about everyone but it was unspoken how he felt. 

It wasn’t until the human came around that everyone started to slowly open themselves up to more and more in ways that they hadn’t in thousands of years in the Devildom. She had been right to speak up when she had, staring into the eyes of each devil without fear in her heart as any other rational human would have as she spoke. 

For that, her uncouth honesty made them see what they were never once in the way of knowing. 

She wouldn’t know the express details of how they talked late that night, admitting that mistakes had been made and that Mammon was due… an apology for that. Of course, he laughed it off, told them it was nothing and hid the embarrassment in their eyes. Nobody would comment on the fact that he had started to cry when they told him that they cared about him, even if he was a pain sometimes. 

That seemed to bring something to his energy that seemed bright, even in the depth of the Devildom where light no longer reached. He supposed that he had the human to thank for that, rather, Azalea Ambrose, to thank for that. Lucifer had never thought when he first met this clumsy human that she would have anything in common with him. 

Yet, she did. 

She knew what it was like to care greatly about her family, fighting thick and thin for them no matter what that meant in her life. She carried the weight of leaving her brother behind and it hadn’t been her pick to do that, yet, she never complained. She did her tasks and never said a word to let them think that any problem existed. 

She went as far to disobey everything for the sake of piecing a family back together before any of them even knew that she was part of it. 

“I suppose Diavolo was more than pleased to give you a day off,” she drew Lucifer from his thoughts once more, and his red eyes rested on her face. Her amused smile reminded me of a memory long past but not forgotten. “I mean, considerin’ the fact you’ve been sleeping at your desk for some time now and all. Oh, don’t make that face. We all know you have.” 

“And I suppose,” he responded, “You’ve got an opinion about that.”

“I most definitely do. Of course, far be it from the human to reprimand Lucifer when he knows that he’s earned a day of reprieve. Yet, here you are, taking that reprieve to do something for my sake,” her hand brushed against his. “Stubborn as you know, I appreciate it a lot. I promise not to run you too ragged.” 

Oh, Lucifer knew that she wouldn’t throw caution to the wind without his brothers there to tempt her to make a little mayhem. The only thing that he had to worry about was the fact that she had no depth perception. That was easily remedied. Still, she would never know the depth of his appreciation for the human in question. 

Nor the way her laughter made his heart twist. 

“Now, c’mon, I haven’t seen the sun in months, and as much as I’m thankful for Asmo trying to treat me like a reptile with his heat lamps, nothing beats the feeling of real sunlight on your skin!” 

—

It was weird how things had steadily started to change. Everyone still kicked at him with a joke on their lips but one of his brothers would come to his side, and that was odd when he was only used to Azalea doing that in recent years. It didn’t feel like they were pitying him or anything. Still, he didn’t at all mind that the jokes hadn’t quit, he just appreciated that the torment had lightened its load. 

This house had never felt lighter than this, and that was saying a lot given that this was the Devildom and they were demons. He knew that it had a lot to do with Azalea coming into their lives and showing them how to open up again. She was everything and more than they deserved to have, and they all had Lilith to thank for that. 

Their sister had been given her happiness and given it back to them tenfold. He would murmur a silent thank you to her every night. In all that misery, her light had managed to live on. Azalea wasn’t a replacement for their sister, she was her own person who gave them the chance to believe in something once more. 

Her laugher had given them something that they hadn’t had in thousands of years. Even now, as he watched her smile so broadly, he couldn’t bring himself to stop listening. 

“Yes, yes, I’ve heard you all of you a thousand times. I’ll bring back my sketchbooks so that you can go through them, Asmo. I’ll grab my old gaming set-up to appease you, Levi, but I’ll have to remind you that I will not give you mercy in Smash Brothers. I’ll grab those books I mentioned to you Satan, no need to remind me. Oh, and I almost forgot, I owe you snacks, Beel. Hm, Belph, I’ll surprise you since you didn’t ask.” 

His name wasn’t mentioned. “Oi! What about The Great Mammon?” 

“As if I’d forget you, you big lug,” she jabbed him in the side with a playful jest as she walked by the second-born. “I’m only gonna be gone till dinner time. Lucifer already shot down all your laundry list of requests so you’ll just have to settle for whatever I wanna bring ya’.” 

He huffed, not even looking in her direction as she spoke to him. He figured that would be the case but you couldn’t blame a guy for trying. A sharp glare from his older brother let him know that if he tried anything while the first-born was gone, he’d hang him from the roof this time during a hell-storm. It was then that he noticed his brother hadn't said much. 

They were waiting to see how quickly he stopped functioning for their amusement. 

Mammon took the chance to look at Azalea when she turned away from him to address Lucifer and that was when he realized why he had heard snickering and silence for the longest time. She had gotten her hands on his jacket, ah, no wonder he couldn’t find it earlier when he tore apart his room looking for it! She’d stolen it right from underneath his nose. 

She was wearing a cropped black top and a high-cut plaid skirt with her legs fortunately covered by dark tights this time. His coat swallowed her up and hung just to where her fingers touched against her thighs. For a human in a house of demons, she looked pretty cozy just wearing something that was worn by someone that could have easily done away with her. 

She was too nice and naive for her own good sometimes, or perhaps, she just trusted him more than anyone else and that was why she chose him. She had let him clutch onto her all night without even one question. She had let him do that often, whenever she was plagued by nightmares and needed a friend or whenever he had nightmares of his red-stained—

Mammon wouldn’t imagine that now, not when she was wearing _him_. 

_Mine, mine, mine._ His greed-laden heart hissed. 

He could say that he imagined what she would look like in his things before but this wasn’t quite as he had pictured it. It was big on her but that wasn’t something she seemed to be bothered by. If anything, she seemingly relished in it. His mind whispered to him that she would look lovely in nothing but that jacket. 

Why was he jealous of that jacket?

He could feel the heat rush to his cheeks. “Hey, who told ya’ you could take my stuff?” 

“Mmm, well, if that’s a big deal, I’ll give it back to you,” she hummed, thoughtfully. She slowly began to unravel the coat from her shoulders and he immediately sprang forward and wrapped it back over her shoulders. 

His frustration was palpable, “No, no! It’s not like I’m mad at ya’ for that. Here I thought ya’ weren’t capable of being greedy, and you take something the moment I turn my back. Of course, you wanna take my things to hold onto, that just means everyone knows that I’m your first man now! Keep it, see if it bothers me! It doesn’t!” 

“Lolol, it totally does,” Levi snickered behind him. Though, he could feel the faintest wisp of jealousy radiating from him. He was probably irritated that Azalea hadn’t taken _his_ things to wear. It wasn't like she didn’t borrow things from them from time to time, she usually got them handed to her without having to ask. “C’mon, Mammon, tsunderes are getting out of style, just admit what’s obvious.” 

Asmo cut in, “Mmm, I have to say she does make it work better than he does. He hasn’t tried to change his style since he got invested in westerns back in the forties.”

“I don’t know what yer’ talkin’ about!” Mammon huffed, looking away from his brother and back at Azalea. “Not like it’s any different than when you guys toss your things at my human to get your stink all over ‘em. And, what’s wrong with my style?! It’s totally cohesive.” 

“It’s purposefully disruptive,” Satan commented, idly. “If it’s distasteful to Lucifer than far be it from me to scold him from following his dreams of bravado on an open trail. It isn’t as if he’d survive out in the desert, he would only live since he’s immortal.” 

“Mmm,” Belphie nodded. “Agreed. If he’s doing it on purpose to spite him then it’s working for me too.” 

Lucifer’s voice cut through their chatter, “While I’m glad to hear you all getting along, what I don’t want to hear is any trouble while we’re gone. If I get the sense that any of you are up to something you will sorely regret it.” 

There goes the house party.

Azalea’s laughter flooded his senses as she and Lucifer headed out the front door, she paused before shutting it, looking directly at him though it sounded like she was making a general comment as to keep Mammon from feeling targeted. “Do try to behave, I’d hate to think that you won’t get a reward for good behavior.” 

_Reward?_

The playful sparkle in her blue eyes made him swallow, hard. Whatever she meant by that surely had something to do with the fact that she had taken something of his. The worst part was that he would not get the chance to know until the evening and that, was the biggest punishment that could have ever been inflicted on him. 

“I didn’t think she had that in her,” Asmo mused from his side, a lament on his lips in the form a deep sigh. “If only it were me on the receiving end of those coy words.” 

“Oi! Get your own human!” 

“Oh, so she’s _your_ human, now?” 

“I’m her first man, ya’ flirty bastard,” Mammon grumbled underneath his breath. He would have to make sure that Asmo wasn’t alone with her soon. Which was hard given those two were glued at the hip whenever he wasn’t around. “That means all of her firsts belong to me… I-I mean, what’s it to ya’ anyway? What we do is none of your business!” 

“Could he get any more obvious?” 

“You have to admire his sincerity even if he can’t admit anything to save his life.” 

“Even though the poor thing’s been waiting for months for an honest answer.”

“Hey! Don’t talk about me like I’m not here!” 

“Since Lucifer isn’t here to stop me, I’m going to raid the fridge.”

“Oh, you should eat his pie, Beel.” 

—

Wren had been having a bit of a rough go of it. 

His sister out of the blue just disappeared to go on some study-abroad program and never said a word to him, and she hadn’t answered any of the messages that he had sent her to find out where she was. He knew that long-distance calling could be hard in other countries but there was surely Wi-Fi! No matter what he tried, she wouldn’t answer him and it was left unread. 

Her accounts were not updated, either. 

She wasn’t online at all, her last posts being before she left and there was no talk of her being excited to leave or anything. It just didn’t make sense. He felt like she had lied to him to make him feel better but it was hard to imagine his big sister lying to him about her plans for no reason. He just wanted to see her and understand what was going on. 

His parents didn’t have any answers either, just that they had been informed that she would be gone for a year in total. It wasn’t like Azalea to do something like that. Maybe, maybe he didn’t really know his big sister at all. Those were the sorts of thoughts that had been bothering him since day one and now that it was around the holidays, there was a hole in his heart. 

Today was no different than how any other day had been, he got dressed, got something to eat, and then went out to grab the mail for his parents so they wouldn’t scold him for not getting it inside by the time they returned home. His cane hit the familiar bumps in the sidewalk as he rounded by the corner and opened the box. 

There wasn’t anything but one letter in the box, but he grabbed it and turned around to head back to the house. At least with the break in school, that meant that he didn’t have to deal with everyone that had been bothering him. He didn’t want to think about it. 

It was hard enough thinking about the fact that Azalea wasn’t here. 

The last thing Wren wanted was to think about _that_. At least, his parents weren’t home all day and that meant that he could play music as much as he wanted without anyone scolding him for it. 

Wren found his way back into the house and locked the door behind himself, heading into the living area to plop down on the couch while the Bluetooth speakers connected to his phone. No homework to worry about, no bullies to worry about, he could just lay back all day and focus on the little things. 

That’s what he planned on doing. 

What he didn’t expect was a knock at the front door after only a few minutes. He turned the volume down on his phone and waited, if it was someone that was friends with his parents or one of their many acquaintances, they would call into the house to let him know that they dropped by. It wasn’t often that that happened. 

So, he found it rather odd. 

Wren had no choice but to head in the direction of the front door once more, “Hello? It’s me, Azalea! I tried to go call ahead before I came over but nobody answered. Anyone home?” 

He felt his heart stop. 

Was that really the sound of her voice or was he imagining it? Had he fallen asleep at the couch again? It didn’t make sense to him for her to be back, he hadn’t heard anything and no proof that she might ever return. He waited another moment to hear her call out once again, this time with a disappointed sigh on her lips. 

There was another sound, the faint hum of a deep voice that he didn’t recognize at all. “I have a feeling they’re not here, but that doesn’t mean that Wren isn’t. I wouldn’t put it past them to leave him alone when there are a million parties they want to attend this time of year.”

“That’s rather distasteful,” the male voice said. “I can’t say that I’m surprised given all that you’ve told me today, however.” 

She chuckled, “Trust me, if I could take him back with us, I would. Well, granted I don’t wanna make it harder or you to take care of any more humans. It’s just frustrating that he’s stuck like this while I’m with you guys.”

He didn’t even stop to think it through, he hurried the rest of the way to the entryway to hear the sound of the turning knob and a heavy door opening, almost tripped over his own feet as he grasped at the frame of the door and waited, just waited as the conversation died down and the door opened all the way o the wall. 

“Leah?” 

A gasp came from the entryway. “Wren!” 

He was wrapped up in a warm hug before he knew what hit him. It was Azalea, alright, tufts of her hair tickled his cheek. It didn’t matter how upset he had been when she up and disappeared at that second, all that mattered was that she was back and that he could feel her instead of the ghost of memory on his hand. 

God, he could feel the tears welling up in his eyes already. He clutched at the fabric of her thick jacket that felt like faux leather, a different texture from the jean jacket that she normally wear that had decals and patches that he had picked out for her. It was the one detail that he could pick apart and focus on to keep him from blubbering. 

“I’m so sorry,” she croaked before he could say anything. “I know I promised I’d come back. I know. I never meant to break that promise, Wren. It’s complicated, and kind of a long story. You don’t have to forgive me. I’m just so happy to see you’re safe and sound.”

“Are you really here?” Wren asked. 

“I promise,” she said, squeezing him a bit harder to comfort him. “I’m not going anywhere.” 

“I thought you left forever,” he said, not sure where to start apart from his fears. “You haven’t been talking to anyone and mom ‘n dad were starting to think you had just decided to live abroad since you didn’t even call to talk to them.”

“There’s no reception at all out where I’ve been,” she told him, and her trademark voice told him that she wasn’t lying. “It’s really... remote. Trust me, it wasn’t my choice to go radio silent on everyone like that. A lot happened, though, and it wasn’t until today that I got a chance to come and see anyone. I wanted to surprise everyone but nobody answered when I called.”

“They’ve been gone since last night,” Wren managed. “They asked one of the neighbors to come and check up on me today since they weren’t sure when they’d be back. I think it was one of the company parties?”

His big sister cursed underneath her breath, muttering things that he pretends that he didn’t hear in the slightest. “I can’t believe them. Listen, Wren, I’ll talk to them when they get back because mom n’ dad know better than that.” 

They both knew that their parents did know better, but they elected to avoid picking that option every single time they were handed the chance. Wren was alright and he could take care of himself but that was beyond the point, Azalea had told him time and time again that he was a kid and they had to be around to take care of him. 

They didn’t do it for her, and yet, they made the community think that they were utterly devoted to Wren’s care. Azalea would have guessed that they told a fib to one of the neighbors about a family emergency and they couldn’t bring Wren. They likely thought that Azalea was watching him or at worst, that the babysitter stayed until a certain time. 

That was going to be a long conversation that Wren wasn’t looking forward to. 

Wren wanted to rub the tears away from his eyes but that would require letting go of his hug, so the water just slid down his cheeks. “You promised that we were going to be together from now on and then you just left,” he repeated the thought. “Leah, why?” 

“That would be my doing,” the male voice that he had heard earlier spoke up at that moment, clearing his throat. “The program didn’t exactly give her a chance to say no.”

He stiffened, pulling away from Azalea to turn his head in the direction of the voice. He couldn’t see much of the man, just the faintest trace of a tall shadow. Who was that guy? Azalea didn’t seem all that uncomfortable with him. She had heard him laughing with him about something before they came into the house, so he must have been a friend. 

God forbid, _a boyfriend._

“Who are you?” 

The tension was as thick as a fog. 

If Azalea had run off to hang out with a bunch of guys without telling him, it just seemed kind of weird to say the least. What kind of study program would have her staying with a bunch of guys? It could have been one of those international connection things, where you learned about another kind of culture with a host family? 

Maybe? 

This guy didn’t really have an accent, though. 

“Oh, I almost forgot, sorry. Wren, this is…” she hesitated as if sharing a look with the man. “Someone very important to me. You could say that he’s family, _even_. He and the rest of his brothers are the ones that I’ve been staying with in the past few months. This is Lucifer, Wren, and Lucifer, this is Wren, my little brother.” 

Wren offered out his hand as a courtesy and the man took it, a firm shake. He pursed his lip, unable to stop himself from asking in the least nonchalant manner, “So, are you telling me that this is like, your boyfriend?” 

His sister sputtered a hasty, “ _No_!” 

“Okay, so he’s more like a brother, then,” Wren said, a smile cracking through the tears. “Good, I’ve always kind of wanted a brother more than a sister.” 

“I see how it is,” Azalea huffed, the familiar sound of his sister fed up with his sass. “I’m going to make some tea, okay? Try to behave and then we’ll talk about everything and I’ll explain what I’ve been up to and you can tell me how it’s been here.” 

He nodded his head in confirmation. 

Even though he was still kind of upset about some of the minor things, it felt like everyone would be alright. Azalea was back and she wanted to help him feel better. It felt like things could go back to normal, well, as close as they were to normal. She always did that when they sat down and worked so it was going to feel like old times. 

He could never hate his big sister, no matter how much it hurt to have her disappear from his life like that. 

Now, that was enough to make Lucifer chuckle. Whatever tense feeling had been in the air suddenly all of dissipated with that sound. A hand brushed against the top of his head in an affectionate way that kind of reminded him of a feeling that he couldn’t explain, it was like a fondness. It wasn’t exactly the same feeling as when Azalea taunted him. 

“You should still cherish the fact that you have a sister,” Lucifer told him, quietly, as if sharing a silent secret with him. “That, in itself, is a blessing that one may not realize how great they are until they don’t have them anymore, or when they’re about to lose them.” 

“You know,” Wren said, though his tone remained light as he rubbed away the remaining tears. “That sounds awfully like a threat, mister.” 

“Far from it, just… personal experience,” Lucifer said.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE. 

Well, you've come this far and that means you get to see the drawing that I've rendered of Azalea and Wren! I tried to shrink it a bit to put on the page so hopefully, that works out. Thanks for reading the story thus far, and if I get the urge or inspiration, I'll definitely update this one in the future, or write more with Azalea in general for that matter. 


End file.
